High Ranking Representatives from Greater Amman Municipality visit Freiburg im Breisgau
Between 12 and 15 September 2011, Heinrich Böll Stiftung Arab Middle East Office organized a study tour for a high-ranking delegation from Jordan to Freiburg im Breisgau. The delegation, representing the Greater Amman Municipality and its think tank Amman Institute for Urban Development, comprised Ms. Amal Dababseh, Sustainable Development Director, Amman Institute for Urban Development, Mr. Munjed Al-Sharif, Climate Change and Water Programme Coordinator, Ministry of Water and Irrigation, Mr. Mohamed Al Rahahleh, Manager of Traffic Operations Department, Transportation and Mobility Directorate, Greater Amman Municipality, and Mr. Omar Elarabiyat, Head of Environmental Awareness and Education Division, Environmental Directorate, Greater Amman Municipality. Freiburg, a city of 200,000 inhabitants located in the south of Germany, is known worldwide as one of the leading ‘green cities’. Freiburg has been at the forefront of implementing sustainable urban development strategies, in particular in the area of urban mobility, and reducing CO2 emissions per capita. The city of Amman with its 2.3 million inhabitants faces rapid urbanization that puts considerable pressure on fresh water supplies, the sewage system, and the general living environment. In particular, the increasing density of traffic and the concomitant air pollution pose a major problem. To face theses challenges, the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) has developed a transportation and mobility master plan for Amman. This plan includes detailed strategies for transportation in Amman that focus on improving mobility and sustainability in the city. Moving from a car-dependent system with a weak public transport network towards an integrated multimodal transportation system is one of the key objectives.
With Freiburg and Amman having no previous cooperation, the study tour provided the opportunity to establish networks between representatives of both cities and various “green” sectors. Councilor Thilo Buchholz (The Greens) officially welcomed the delegation and gave an overview on the city’s sustainable development successes over the last decades. Dr. Dieter Wörner, Director of the Environmental Protection Agency, presented the environmental policy of Freiburg. He emphasized the increased environmental awareness of Freiburg’s citizens and presented the strong network of environmental institution. Dr. Wörner also explained the city’s long-term strategy of climate protection, its waste management system, and its approach to traffic planning. Moreover, the delegation discussed best practice in municipal mobility and public transport with Mr. Andreas Hildebrand from the Freiburger Verkehrs AG, operator of the local public transport system. A highlight of the tour was a field visit to the model neighbourhoods “Rieselfeld” and “Vauban”. Over the past years, Freiburg made designing cross-sectoral strategies for the development of new neighborhoods a priority, such as for example concerning the newly built green community “Rieselfeld” and the rebuilt car-free district “Vauban”. The field visit demonstrated how the city’s energy and traffic concepts are being implemented on the ground and how energy efficient housing standard can help reduce average household energy consumption. In the Solar Info Center, a networking platform for “green” business, the delegation met with representatives of several green enterprises and discussed options for cooperation on environmental traffic management. Finally, Mr. Wolfgang Teubner, managing director of ICLEI European Secretariat, presented the organizations efforts in supporting municipalities and local governments to become sustainable cities.